HOCKEY Burlington rallies to win minor bantam A division at Bell tourney Kevin Nagel/Metroland Members of the Burlington Eagles celebrate a 3-2 overtime victory over the Oakville Red Rangers in the final of the minor bantam A division at the Bell Memorial Hockey Tournament Saturday afternoon. KEVIN NAGEL knagel@burlingtonpost.com Oakville teams were the toughest obstacle for the Burlington Eagles to over come in winning the Rich ard Bell Memorial Hockey Tournament. The Eagles dominated minor bantam A play at the Bell, going undefeated to take the division title on Dec. 30. They tied the Rangers' Blue team in preliminary play, the only game Bur lington didn't win all week. In the final, the Eagles faced the other Oakville team in the division, Rang ers Red, in the champion ship game. The Eagles never played with the lead and needed a late goal to force overtime. Three-on-three decided nothing, so the next tie breaker was the rarely seen two-on-two, a situa tion Burlington's Luke Stark loves. Stark, tall with a good stick hand and the ability to play whatever position his coach needs at the time, scored the game winner on an end-to-end rush. On the way, he sidestepped an Oakville defender on the right boards and, proceed ing to the net, beat goalie Angelo Turco on a left- hand flip shot into the top of the short side corner. "They were on a change so I thought 'I could do whatever I want, I've got a lot of time,"' Stark said. It gave the minor ban tam A Eagles their first tournament win of the sea son despite reaching the fi nal in three of four. The Eagles are in fifth place in league standings with the Oakville Red team not far behind. The Rangers were only 4:26 away from winning the tournament when the Ea gles' Ethan Peters tied the score at 2-2. It set the stage for Stark's heroics. Rangers' Russell Weir, after setting up teammate Andrew Richardson's opening goal in the first pe riod, scored one himself in the second, restoring the Oakville lead, with Wesley Kwan picking up his sec ond assist of the game. Jack Penny scored Bur lington's other goal, tying the score at 1-1 early in the second period. Oakville coach John Verdon, guiding a slightly- above .500 hockey team that had 11 players gradu ate to AA from last year's Ontario Hockey Federa tion championship squad, has seen improvement lately in the 2017-18 squad. "We're peaking at the right time," he said. What he didn't have an answer for was the second period of overtime when only four skaters patrolled the ice. "We really don't have a good two-on-two strategy," Verdon said, "as was evi dent (today). You put out your highly-skilled players and hope they communi cate with each other." The victim of the win ning goal, Turco, who fin ished second to the Eagles' Sam Logue in a battle of goaltenders, needn't hold his head down according to his coach. "He's the backbone of our team. Angelo gives us a chance to win every game," Verdon said. Oakville Red opened with two convincing victo ries on Day 1 of the tourna ment, with an 8-1 decision over Viikingit Rangers and a 10-0 win over GriFK White. Friday, the Rangers edged Woolwich Wildcats 4-3 to advance to Saturday's semifinal against the Osha- wa Minor Generals. Another 4-3 win put them in the final against the Eagles. 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